Dream Heroes
by Inferno Beans Man
Summary: I thought I was just another runaway trainer looking to make a mark in Johto. But when pieces of my past, nightmarish creations and new rivals intertwined with my path to glory, not to mention being tasked with fulfilling a sacred prophecy, an exciting adventure was guaranteed. Only one question: will you join me in this epic tale?
1. Prologue: Escape!

Prologue: The Escape!

People like to talk about freedom a whole lot more than they actually live in it, but right at that moment as my boat set sail upon the glorious ocean waters of Kanto, I felt so free that my very presence there was an act of rebellion. I'd been waiting every single day of my 16 years on this planet for the moment I could embark on a journey of my own, and I was finally living that moment. Sure, maybe I left without telling my father, and maybe I took one of his boats behind his back in order to make it out to sea, but hey, this was my adventure. I couldn't bother myself with the consequences others would always try to warn me about. The only consequence of anything I ever experienced was wasting away my existence living in that dreary wastebin that the most people call Vermillion City. It was time to kiss the days of that old mundane life goodbye, and say hello to a new adventure.

I let the engine roar as I looked over my shoulder to see Ares perched at the stern with a goofy smile, gazing at the midnight sea behind the misty splashes foaming up from the wake of the speeding craft. It was a little hard to believe that the Growlithe I had met years ago by this same ocean would be sharing this moment with me, but then again, that's just the kind of freedom I was hoping for in my life, the kind where nothing could be predicted. I turned my head back forward and fixated my attention on what was ahead. I had no idea what awaited me, and that was all I could ever ask for. The only thing I was sure of was that Ares and I were heading full speed towards Johto and soon they would all know the name of the emerging young trainer: Hector Hatfield!


	2. Chapter 1: Wild Numel Chase

I can't say that waking to the barks of your overly-excited Growlithe after only three hours of sleep is one of the most pleasant feelings in the world. Even less so when the sleep you did get was on the painfully uncomfortable floor of a twenty year-old watercraft, but I guess it beats the alternative of being too relaxed to get up to take the damn thing off cruise-mode and cutting my adventure short by horrifically maiming myself in a boating accident.

Sluggishly pulling myself up, I took a look around to see what all the barking was about and found that within view was a small docking bay stationed in front of a wide beach. I rubbed my eyes awake, eager to set this hunk of poorly engineered metal ashore and see if we had really made it to our destination. I steered forward and lowered the speed to pace capable of docking. As the old boat moved closer, I could just barely make out a sign up ahead on the coast which from the looks of it read "Cianwood City - A Port of Crashing Waves".

My face lit up like a Snorlax who had just found out that the road he'd been blocking was made of Oreos. "Awright, that's what I'm talking about!", I shouted. "Do you know what this means, buddy? We made it to Johto!"

Ares nodded with his tongue hanging out, panting excitedly. I drew my boat in closer to the docking bay and screeched to a complete stop when I saw how close I actually was to knocking down the wooden walkway.

By the time I had my bag, complete with everything I should have needed for my journey, in my hands, Ares was already sprinting down towards the beach as if the boat were going to burst into flames at any second. I could see the ebony striped orange coat of fur bulleting up the grey stone stairs that led into the city. "Hey, wait up for me!" I stumbled out of the boat and ran after him.

After struggling to keep up with my speedy Growlithe, I was relieved to spot him come to a stop after clearing the stairs, posting himself at the peak of the sandy cliff beside the steps. Finally at ease, I followed his path towards the stairs. However, as I looked up at the cliff-side he was standing on, I was able to make out some creature in the distance. The creature grew larger and larger the more I stared till it became clear that said creature was a plump oval-shaped Numel who, for whatever reason, was stampeding towards the cliffside that Ares was basking in. Ares had all of half a second to react to whatever was using the sand as a marathon track, and before either of us knew it, the Numel shot up one of its stubby legs and kicked the peaceful Growlithe up towards the skies. My eyes widened in disbelief as I bore witness to Ares flailing around up in the air before careening down into the ocean blues in one massive splash.

Surely he was safe considering that the drop couldn't have been any more than 15 or 20 feet, but the brisk water smacking me in the face knocked me into action, and all I could think of was running to Ares and making sure he didn't suffer more than a few bruises and soaked stripes.

In the time it would take someone to snap their fingers, I was already all the way down the wooden dock bridges closest to where I saw him land. My eyes darted all over the place in a desperate attempt to figure out where he was, and already my mind was spinning around with thoughts of him trapped beneath the cold sea, powerless to stop his life from being drowned away by the chilling water. That was when I spotted him well outside of the water, sprinting back up the stairs with his crimson eyes firmly locked on the Numel settled on the cliffside. "Oh god, please no," I wished. "Ares, get back here right now!"

I found myself charging after him yet again, knowing that things could only end badly if he did catch up to that mischievous lump-of-a-Pokémon. Once I reached the top of the stairwell, there was barely a foot between Ares and his attacker. My enraged Growlithe's dagger-like teeth were flashing against the morning sun, packed with a slow and rumbling growl that drew nervous beads of sweat to the hapless Numel's over-sized forehead. This Pokémon seemed to lack interest in getting into a fight just as much as I did. "Come on, Ares, he's learned his lesson." I attempted to calm him down. "We've got bigger Numels to fry." My words didn't do much to deter Ares, and I was just about ready to step in and put a stop to all of this tom foolery myself, when all of a sudden some fedora-wearing doofus came running down through the streets, most likely the trainer responsible for the Numel, judging by his backpack and travel boots.

All the way down to our little battleground I could hear him yelling "Get that mutt away from my Numel!" Mutt? Seriously, just mutt? Clearly this amateur didn't recognize the prime talent beheld by my beast-of-a-Growlithe, but whatever. If he was lucky enough he wouldn't have to find that out. As soon as the trainer arrived on the scene, he immediately knelt down by his fat Numel, clutching an arm around him and petting his forehead. This guy was babying him like he was fresh out the womb of an even fatter mother Numel, though it didn't take him long to focus his attention on us.

While he was obviously mad, his face didn't quite resemble that of an enraged man, but more like a butthurt, entitled hipster who just had his soy mocha cappuccino spilled on another one of his designer brand "travel" vests. "That Growlithe belongs to you, doesn't it?", he asked. What a dumb question, a real trainer would be able to tell without asking. "Look man, your Pokemon started it when he attacked my Growlithe back there." I explained, I thought rather convincingly.

"Considering that doesn't at all resemble what I saw, your words are irrelevant, and you don't decide the truth. Now make sure that dog is on a leash while I decide whether or not to turn you in."

"Irrelevant? Turn me in? Listen man, I already told you what happened. Your stubby Pokémon there assaulted my Growlithe, we didn't do anything. So how about you apologize, tip your stupid hat, and walk away, alright?"

"As if. You're lucky I'm not contacting the authorities right now after starting a fight like that." Okay, I gave it my best. I really tried to keep my cool and tolerate this guy's crap, but there's only so much I can take. "Oh, you call that a fight? Then get ready for the greatest fight of your life,"

Ares was already fired up after being tamed for this long. "Go, tackle!" Ares immediately lunged forward, slamming his body shoulder-first as hard as he could into the Numel and sent both bodies tumbling along the sandy floor. "Hey, that's not fair, I wasn't ready!" the trainer complained. "Kano, strike back with your own Tackle!" Both Pokemon scrambled back up and knocked each other down again, but it wasn't long before they were back on their feet and the matchup was reset.

Meanwhile, a small crowd of tourists mixed with everyday townspeople began to form around the bout, and that's when it hit me. If we were gonna win this, the setting had to be right. I put my thumbs and index fingers together to make a rectangle, closed one eye and looked around at the crowd through the shape, oscillating around a bit. And there we go: the few curious bystanders had become a massive arena roaring with excited fans who all came to watch this battle, and the only sound I could hear was the rampant chanting of my name.

I think the doofus trainer made an incendiary remark of some kind, but the uproar of the enormous audience was too loud for me to hear. "Awright, Ares, let's give the fans what they came for," I declared. "Tackle again, but this time go for his weak point!" Ares bravely charged right back into the heat of action, this time converting his tackle into a wild dive for the Numel's knees. However, he ended up missing his mark by a hair and slid through the sand between his foe's staunchy yellow legs and came to a stop directly underneath an oversized belly hovering over him. An arrogant smirk grew on the face of the trainer. "Kano, drop the sledgehammer.", he ordered.

Just when I figured out what he meant, the bloated Numel collapsed on top of Ares and began crushing the life out of him. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what to do at this point. When I watched the Indigo League battles on TV growing up, I never saw anyone execute a move quite like "the sledgehammer". But it seemed Ares had figured it out, because after some frantic squirming he had managed to reach his mouth onto one of the Numel's hind leg knees. A rough chomp or two was all it took to draw painful cries from his foe and send him packing.

"Let's get out of here, Kano, we don't have time for this." He and the Numel both turned with tails tucked and running, trying to make an easy escape from this fight by running into the city. But I was so caught up in the heat of battle that the thought of them just up and leaving like that boiled my blood to no end and I just couldn't let it happen. I took off and ran after them, pushing through some strangers on my way and as it turned out me and Ares were on the same page, because without even saying a word he was already ahead of me. But after a few turned corners we had lost sight of them.

"Damn it!", I shouted as I kicked over a stray basket, spilling out rotten tomatoes into the sandy road. Ares grumbled something under his breath and sighed, both of us taking a seat up against some rusty old barrels. "I guess we're better off not catching them anyway," I suggested. "Not like they were any competition for us."

"Lithe…" Ares agreed. I rummaged through my bag till I was able to dig out a granola bar, something to tide us over till we found a place to eat. I tossed the wrapper aside, snapped the bar in two and passed one of the halves over to Ares. As we gobbled up our processed granola cutouts I caught something in the corner of my eye that instantly sent chills down my spine. When I turned my head for a closer look, my fears were confirmed. Over by one of the storefronts not too far ahead, there were two police officers standing outside talking to the owner, obviously questioning him about something that very likely related to my whereabouts.

Noticing this too, Ares stood up with his body stiffened and his tail wagging vigilantly. I stood up with him, brushing sand off my sleeveless hoodie and dark cargo shorts. "Well, we knew this was a possibility," I sighed. "I say we take off before it's too late. Staying in the closest city to where we left was stupid anyway." Ares nodded, and we both made a hasty exit, walking as if there was a scorching flame following behind us, while doing our best to be as discreet as possible at the same time.

Once we were in the clear, our hasty walking turned into a full-on sprint down to the docks, our feet thundering against the thin wooden walkway. I leaped behind Ares onto the rested boat and fired it up, wiping some fresh sweat off my forehead as I backed us out of the port. Ares barked a couple times, trying to tell me we were fine, but I couldn't relax just yet. I wanted to be sure we were far away from those pesky blue uniforms, and after a good ten or so minutes of full-speed acceleration it seemed as though we had done just that. That was when I heard the ominous and foreboding sound of a roaring motor dangerously close behind us. I could hear Ares's loud barking in the back, as if I needed him to tell me we were deep in shit's creek right then. But I didn't look back.

I couldn't.

All I could do was slam my foot as hard against the pedal as I could and pray that this wasn't the end of our run.


End file.
